Frequently Asked Questions.

Throughout the life of this website, many questions are repeatedly asked. You may
find the an answer to your query within this page. If not, please feel free
to contact us using the e-mail link at the bottom of the page. However, please
remember that we are volunteers running this website in our spare time, so we may
not be able to respond to your question straight away.

We work from the original records. Once every three months the records held
at the local offices were transcribed and sent down to the GRO where they
were then re-indexed. At each stage of this transcribing, copying
and re-indexeing, errors could occur. Hence the local records are always going to
be more accurate and more complete.

Could a batch number be associated with each new set of data so
that I can request the search to only return newly added records ?

A.

Yes it could, this idea has been considered but has not been
implemented for several reasons:

Space - we'd probably need a 4 digit number which would add
significantly to the
cost of our web site fees due to increased disk space requirements.

It would add to already heavy work load that it takes to run
this site : please
remember that we do this in our spare time. (unless someone
would like to fund my early retirement ... twenty years early ???)

Speed - adding extra criteria to the search pattern would
potentially slow down the search.

When the indexes are complete, the batch numbers would no
longer serve any purpose.

Our Updates page lists all the additions by category, areas and years.

A.

You can make use of the count value displayed at the bottom of the
search results.
Perform your required search and if you don't immediately find
the record you are looking
for, note the number of records found. When you see that there
has been an update
re-run your search and see if the count has increased, if so, you
may be in luck when you
examine the records this time.

A.

You can make use of the 'Output to file' option on the search form.
Perform your search, saving the results on to your hard disk. The
output file that the search
creates should be readable by Wordpad and Excel (or any other
spreadsheet program).
When you believe that updates have been made, re-run the same
search, again using the
output to file option but making sure that the file is saved
using a different name.
You now have two files, old and new; and the aim is to compare
them to spot the
differences. On Linux or UNIX, this can be performed using the
standard file
compare utility: diff.
On MS-Windows you will need to download a suitable file
comparison tool, such
as those available from Programmer's Heaven
or from Shareware.com where you should search for diff.
As always, we cannot take any responsibilty for any program
downloaded from the
web and you should always check such programs with your virus
scanner before use.

What are the IRCs that are mentioned on the certificate application forms ?

A.

IRCs are International Reply Coupons. These should be available from
post offices all over the world, and when you send them overseas they
can be exchanged for stamps in the country concerned. But if your
post office has never heard of them, it is suggested that you just add £1
to the cost of your certificate to cover return postage.